Numerous tales of decline, fall and decadence have provided striking images for students of cultural history, images that have continued to be popular. The current emphasis on basic economic changes in Western society has not altered this perspective; the same images of decline and fall have simply reappeared in new contexts. However, H. G. Koenigsberger was not always convinced by them, especially when it came to the history of creative achievements. Instead, he suggested that historians might explore shifts in creative activities; shifts which were not necessarily tied to see-saw patterns. For example, instead of focussing solely on decadence in literary and artistic achievement in Italy towards the end of the sixteenth century, historians should also include advances in the music and natural philosophy of the period. Descriptions would move from tracing a down-swing in certain fields to the more positive task of exploring the whole meaning of shifts in activity. Deterioration in some areas of creative endeavour and in certain cultural milieux might then be balanced by new emphases, albeit with significant differences in geographical, temporal, social, and political conditions.

Helli Koenigsberger's later pieces refined the concept of cultural shifts; music, religion, natural philosophy and the arts were all